Chapter 23
Claire
“What was he like?” I asked.
“Our father?” Sebastian asked.
“Yeah. Besides his constant cheating, what kind of man was he?”
“I’ll tell you what kind of man—” Simon began to speak.
“Bro, stop,” Sam said. “He was a generous man when he wanted to be. He did have his flaws, many of them.”
“He fucked us up,” Simon chimed in. “Well, our mother played a role in that as well. When we were teenagers, the four of us made a pact never to fall in love or get involved in relationships.”
“Yeah.” Stefan laughed. “And Sammy was the first to break that pact with Julia.”
“Why did you make that pact?” My brows furrowed.
“Because watching our parents and their relationships growing up was enough to make us realize it wasn’t worth it,” Sebastian spoke. “We had a lot of issues back then.”
“Then, our beautiful wives came into our lives and made us see things differently,” Sam said.
“We were afraid we would be like our father,” Stefan said, tipping the beer bottle to his lips.
“Yeah, we were young and dumb back then.” Sebastian smiled.
“But he must have changed when he met Celeste,” I said.
“We thought he did,” Sam spoke. “We really did.”
“I never thought that,” Simon said. “He was still a cheating bastard until the day he died. The man couldn’t keep his dick in his pants for nothing. That’s why you’re sitting here with us.” He smiled, holding up his beer bottle.
After we sat, drank, and talked for a while, Simon and I headed back to his house.
I went upstairs, slowly opened the door to Nora’s room, and stared at her from the doorway. A smile crossed my lips as she lay there, sound asleep.
“She’s a great kid,” Simon whispered from behind.
I quietly closed the door and turned around.
“It was nice of you to take her in after her mother died,” I said.
“It was a fight. Celeste’s sister wanted custody of her, but she’s our sister, and I wouldn’t allow it. She belongs here with us.”
“Does she know you’re all her brothers?”
“Yeah, she knows. We’ll tell her everything about her parents when shes older.” A smile crossed his lips as he hooked his arm around me.
“Including her father?” My brow arched.
“Yeah, but we’ll leave out the not-so-good parts. She doesn’t need to know the bad things he’s done.”
“You have your hands full with her and Milo,” I said.
“Yeah, Grace and I do, but we wouldn’t have it any other way.” He kissed the side of my head. “Get some sleep.”
I headed to my bedroom, changed into my pajamas, and climbed into bed. My heart ached. I missed Nick and spending time with him. Why did he have to walk into my life at such a turbulent time?
Nick
A couple of days passed, and I didn’t see Claire’s car in the parking lot or hear any noise coming from her apartment. When I left my apartment to head to the hospital, I noticed her door was open, and Gary, the maintenance guy, was there.
“Hey, Gary.”
“Hi, Dr. Russo.” He smiled.
“What are you doing in here? Where’s Claire?”
“I’m looking for any damages. She moved out.”
“When?” My brows furrowed. “A few days ago.”
“I see. I have to get to the hospital. It was good seeing you.”
“You too, Dr. Russo.”
I climbed into my car and shook my head. I couldn’t believe she moved. When I arrived at the hospital, Christian was checking on a patient in one of the ER rooms.
“Good morning.” He smiled when he walked out of the room.
“Did you know Claire moved out of her apartment?” I asked.
“Yeah,” he quietly spoke. “She’s staying with Simon until her house is done.”
“That’s nice. She couldn’t even bother to tell me?”
“You did tell her you never wanted to see her again,” Christian said. “She’s a Kind, and she’s stubborn.” A smirk crossed his lips.
“Whatever. It’s for the best anyway,” I said, walking away.
“Nick?”
“Yeah?” I stopped and turned around. “I know you still have feelings for her. Put what happened in the past and go talk to her.”
“It’s not that simple, Christian. I’ll see you later.”
“We’re going on the boat this weekend. Come with us.”
“I can’t. I’m going out of town. Maybe next time.” I walked away.
Now that Claire was their family, she’d always be around, which meant I couldn’t hang out with them anymore. Seeing her would just hurt, and I needed to keep my distance and move on with my life.
Two Weeks Later
Claire
I spent the last two weeks getting to know my family better. I spent time with my nieces, nephews, and, most importantly, my sister. The girls had arranged for babysitters because we were all going to the brewhouse to celebrate Charleigh’s birthday. I was worried Nick would be there, and I needed to prepare myself for when I saw him.
While at the brewhouse, I watched the door to see if he’d enter. After a while, I finally asked Christian if he was coming.
“Is Nick coming?”
“No. He has to work tonight,” he said.
“I see.” I tipped the beer bottle to my lips and noticed it was empty. “I’m going to get another beer.”
I walked over to the bar and asked the bartender for another.
“Hey, there, pretty lady. Let me buy that for you.” A man approached me.
“Thanks, but no thanks.”
“Why? I don’t see a ring on your finger. I’ve been watching you from across the bar, and you don’t seem to have a boyfriend either.”
“And why would you be watching me?” My brow arched.
“Because I think you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen, and we should get to know each other better. You have one killer body.” His eyes raked over me.
“Not interested.” I grabbed my beer.
As I began to walk away, he grabbed my arm and pulled me back.
“I said I think we should get to know each other better.” His tone was severe.
“You have one second to let go of her,” Sam said, walking over.
“Get lost, man. This is none of your business.”
“It is my business because she’s my sister. Let go of her now.”
“You think I’m afraid of you.” He smiled creepily.
“Come on, Claire,” Sam said.
“We’re not finished here,” the man spoke.
“Yeah, you fucking are.” Simon walked over and grabbed the man by the shirt. “Get the hell out of here now. Nobody puts their hands on my sister.”
The man held his hands up. “Okay. It’s cool.”
I walked over to the family table with Sam and Simon.
“Are you okay?” Simon asked.
“Yeah.” I smiled. “Thanks, you two.”
We sang happy birthday to Charleigh and had a slice of cake that Zoey made. When the party ended, we all left the brewhouse. When we walked out the door, I noticed the guy from earlier was in the parking lot talking with five other guys.
“Well, look what we have here,” he walked over with his friends, circling us. “You put your hands on me.” He pointed at Simon. “I don’t take too kindly to people doing that.”
“It’s in your best interest to walk away, man,” Simon said.
“Nah, I don’t think so. You all think you’re so fancy, having your little party and interrupting the moment I was having with her.” He pointed at me.
“Get a life, dude,” I said. “I told you I wasn’t interested.”
“I have a problem with taking no for an answer, just like I do with people putting their hands on me. And I only solve my problems one way.” He went to raise his fist.
Simon pulled his gun from his back and pointed it directly at the man’s forehead.
“And this is the only way I solve problems,” he said.
“Dude, I was just joking.” I could see the man tremble. “Come on, guys, let’s get the fuck out of here.”
“Thats a good idea. Don’t ever come back here again. I’ll be watching, and the next time I see you, my finger may slip on the trigger.”
The man and his friends climbed into their trucks and took off.
“Well, this is sure an eventful birthday.” Charleigh grinned.
“Don’t let that guy or his friends back in the brewhouse.” Simon glanced at Sebastian.
“Don’t worry. The cameras have recorded their faces. They won’t be coming back here.”
“My husband, the hero.” Grace smiled, hooking her arm around Simon. “You should have let me take them down,” she pouted. “It’s been far too long.”
“And risk bruising that beautiful face of yours? I don’t think so.” He kissed her lips.